Lawn sprinkler



Jan' 9, 1934- E. 1 HEVERLY ET AL LAWN SPRINKLER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 A Filed July 7, 1932 Jan. 9, 1934. E. L. HEVERLY x-:r AL 1,943,073

LAWN SPRINKLER Filed July 7, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WMM Patented Jan. 9, 1934 PATENT OFFICE LAWN SPRINKLER Earl L. Heverly, Chicago, and George H. Hilgendorf, Glencoe, Ill.

Application July 7, 1932. Serial No. 621,160

2 Claims.

Our invention relates to lawn sprinklers. More specifically, it relates to lawn sprinklers of the type having a sprinkler head rotatable about a vertical axis and having a pair of curved vanes of sheet material on the rotary head for distributing the spray.

In sprinklers of the above-indicated type, it has been a serious problem to so design them that when left in one place for a period of time they l@ will evenly distribute a spray or shower over a comparatively large area. Most of the sprinklers in use will distribute a great deal more water in one part of the area of distribution than in others.

One of the objects of our invention is to provide a sprinkler of this type which will overcome the above-noted objection.

A further object of our invention is to provide a sprinkler head of this type which will evenly divide the flow of water from the central nozzle into two streams, one of which will flow up into one of the distributing vanes, and the other into the other vane, and which will avoid the danger of wind currents aiecting the equal division of stream between the two vanes.

A further object of our invention is to provide an improved type of sprinkler which will be durable and easy running and made up of few parts which can be easily manufactured and assembled.

Further objects will appear from the description and claims.

In the drawings, in which an embodiment of our invention is shown:

Figure l is a side elevational view of a sprinkler head embodying our invention, parts being broken away;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2 2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a View of the left hand vane looking from the right in Figure 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the left hand vane of Figure 1;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the blank from which the vane is formed;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 66 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is an illustrative View showing the shape of the vertical sections of the distributing blade on the various vertical section lines indicated in Figure 1; and

Fig. 8 is an illustrative elevational view showing the distribution of the shower from the various portions of the blades.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the construction shown comprises a tubular vertical supply pipe 1 which may be mounted in any suitable manner as on the upper end of a pointed support, 55 which may be inserted in the ground, a sprinkler head supporting member 2 having a lower skirt portion 3 threaded onto the upper end of the supply pipe 1, a jetfnozzle 4 having a drive fit in the intermediate portion of the sprinkler head support 2, a tubular rotor 5 loosely surrounding the 60 nozzle 4 and rotatably mounted in the upper portion of the sprinkler head support 2 by means of a ball bearing construction 6 and a distributing head 7 fitting over and secured on the upper end of the tubular rotor 5 in line with the jet 65 nozzle 4.

This distributing head 7 comprises a tubular member 8 secured to the upper end of the tubular rotor 5 by means of a pair of set screws 9, 9 and a pair of distributing vanes 10, 10 of sheet material having juxtaposed portions 11 positioned diametrically of the nozzle 4 for dividing the jet as it comes from the nozzle. Each vane 10 is curved to provide a guideway for the water and has a generally cylindrical surface, the axis of which cylinder extends at an angle to the axis of the nozzle, the discharge edge 12 of each vane being knurled or roughened to cause the spray to be nely divided as it leaves the vane.

The juxtaposed portions 11 t tightly in slots 80 13 in the sides of the tubular member 8 and may be secured thereto in any suitable manner, as by soldering. The outer faces of the juxtaposed portions 11 are nulled off to provide a sharp edge 14 to divide the jet as it issues from the nozzle 4 to cause one-half of the jet to be distributed by one of the vanes and the other half by the other vane.

The ball bearing construction 6 comprises two sets of balls 15 with cooperating raceways on the rotor and sprinkler head. The upper raceway of the sprinkler head is formed in an adjustable bushing 16 having a screw-threaded connection with the main body of the sprinkler head support 2.

In order to cause the spray to be finely divided and evenly distributed, the extreme edge 12 of each vane is knurled or otherwise roughened, thus giving a finishing touch to the spray just as it leaves the vane to break it up into ne drops and cause it to be evenly distributed.

In operation, the jet 17 issuing from the nozzle 4 is divided by the juxtaposed portions 11 of the two vanes 10, 10, causing one-half oi' the stream to ow up into the curved guideway in one of the vanes 10 and the other into the curved guideway in the other vane. Due to the fact that the axis of the cylindrical surface of the vane is inclined at an angle to the axis of the nozzle, the reaction of the water against the vane 10 imparts 11o a rotary motion to the distributing head, causing it to rotate rapidly and distribute the spray over a large circular area. The vane is so designed as to distribute the spray with great uniformity and in relatively small drops.

As indicated in Fig. 7, which shows in dotted lines the contour of the vertical cross sections A, B, C, etc. of Fig. l, the delivery angle at the edge of the distributing blade changes gradually from one end to the other of the edge of the blade. As indicated by the section F-F, the angle at the delivery edge 12 is downward at approximately 45 degrees. The angle at the section line E-E is somewhat less, that of D-D still less, and so on up to the upper section line A-A, for which the angle at the delivery edge is almost 45 degrees upwardly. The resulting distribution is indicated in Fig. 8, which shows that the part of the spray delivered from the lowermost part of the vane corresponding to section F-F will be delivered relatively close to the sprinkler head, while that from the part corresponding to section A-A will be thrown the maximum distance, due to the delivery angle. The parts of the spray for the intermediate portions of the blade will be delivered approximately as indicated by the spray lines B, C, D and E.

Further modiiications will be apparent to those skilled in the art and it is desired, therefore, that the invention be limited only by the prior art and the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim. and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A sprinkler construction comprising a tubu- "lar member rotatable about its axis, and a pair of distributing vanes of sheet material mounted on said rotatable member, each vane being curved to provide a guideway for the water and having a generally cylindrical surface, the axis of which cylinder extends at an angle to the axis of the rotatable member, the vanes having juxtaposed portions positioned diametrically of the rotatable member for dividing the jet as it comes from the nozzle, said tubular member having diametricallyopposed slots extending completely through the walls thereof and said Varies having downward extensions fitting snugly in said slots and secured to saidA tubular member.

2. A sprinkler construction comprising a tubular member rotatable about its axis, and a pair of distributing vanes of sheet material mounted on said rotatable member, each vane being curved to provide a guideway for the water and having a generally cylindrical surface, the axis of which cylinder extends at an angle to the axis of the rotatable member, the varies having juxtaposed portions positioned diametrically of the rotatable mem er for dividing the jet Vas it comes from the nozzle, said tubular member having diametricallyopposed slots extending completely through the walls thereof and said vanes having downward extensions tting snugly in said slots and secured to said tubular member, the portions of said downward extensions lying within the bore of the tubular member, being provided with tapering channels in their ou er faces to provide a wedge for dividing the jet.

EARL L. HEVERLY. GEORGE H. HILGENDORF. 

